INVOICE REVIEW RESOURCES
Have agreed-upon discounts and other fee arrangements been incorporated?
Are attorneys billing for work that appears to be administrative in nature?
Is the work described clearly enough to evaluate for reasonableness?
The checklist also covers duplicate or overlapping entries, billing increments, daily hours, staffing, internal meetings, and expenses.
EDITABLE WORD CHECKLIST
A one-page checklist for reviewing outside counsel invoices. Adapt the optional thresholds, record follow-up steps, and use it in Word or printed.
VENDOR-NEUTRAL AI PROMPT
A ready-to-use prompt for reviewing invoices in an AI tool your organization has approved. Invoice-grounded findings, calculations, and focused follow-up questions.
For the AI prompt: It is designed to work from the invoice alone. Because invoices may contain privileged, confidential, personal, or commercially sensitive information, use only an AI service your organization has approved.
Legal invoice review questions
Straightforward answers for teams building a lightweight process for reviewing outside counsel invoices.
What is legal invoice review?
Legal invoice review is the process of checking an outside counsel invoice before approval. A practical review usually covers invoice details, calculations, work descriptions, billed time, staffing, and expenses.
Do I need formal billing guidelines to use the checklist?
No. You can begin with basic questions about clarity, calculations, matter relevance, billed time, and expenses. If you have agreed rates, approval thresholds, or other billing rules, add them to the review.
Can I use AI to review a legal invoice?
An organization-approved AI tool can help organize a first pass, check calculations, and identify line items that may need explanation. A human should verify the evidence and make the final approval decision.
What should I do when a legal invoice charge is unclear?
Record the exact line item, note what is missing or inconsistent, and ask a focused question. A follow-up item is a request for context, not necessarily a conclusion that the charge is improper.
